An uncontrollable wandering mind plays a key role in primary insomnia, according to a new study that links the sleep disorder with attention problems when awake.

Brain scans of insomniacs have revealed how regions of the brain associated with wandering thoughts do not shut down when the brain is given complex tasks, making sufferers put more effort into daytime jobs than healthy sleepers.

The discovery of variations in brain activity between sufferers and people without the condition could be a marker to target in the search for effective treatment, according to scientists.

Wide awake: The study has found a link between how an insomniacs' brain functions at night and during the day

A team from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, led by Dr Sean Drummond, associate psychiatry professor at the University of California uncovered the link between the affected daytime and nightime brain activity in primary insomniacs.

Primary insomnia is a form of the condition where sleep is interrupted without the patient suffering any other condition such as depression or chronic pain caused by a medication or substance abuse.

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According to the team, in people without the condition, parts of the brain used for 'working memory' are switched on and off selectively in order to complete tasks in the most efficient way possible, a process interrupted in primary insomniacs.

Struggle: Ten to 15 per cent of adults have an insomnia disorder

Dr Drummond said: 'People with insomnia not only have trouble sleeping at night, but their brains are not functioning as efficiently during the day.

'We found that insomnia subjects did not properly turn on brain regions critical to a working memory task and did not turn off ‘mind-wandering’ brain regions irrelevant to the task.

'It is not surprising that someone with insomnia would feel like they are working harder to do the same job as a healthy sleeper.'

By comparing MRI scans of 25 regular sleepers with 25 insomniacs with an average age of 32, Dr Drummond found that while both groups were equally as effective at completing working memory tasks, insomniac’s brains did not 'dial down' the 'default mode' regions of the brain that are usually used when it wanders.

On the other hand, healthy sleepers were able to switch on more parts of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to tackle the memory tasks.

The study, published in the Journal sleep, says that about 10 to 15 per cent of adults have an insomnia disorder with 'distress or daytime impairment'.

Dr Drummond said: 'Some aspects of insomnia are as much of a daytime problem as a night time problem.

'These daytime problems are associated with organic, measurable abnormalities of brain activity, giving us a biological marker for treatment success.'